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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. drill — the tool
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. club — for golf
  9. stem — to come from
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — army training
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. key — for a lock
  14. hand — in cards
  15. club — a group
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. club — for dancing
  18. key — in music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. foot — a measure
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. key — the most important part

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com